'Fringe': Why was John Noble snubbed by Emmy voters?

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When Emmy nominees were announced on Thursday, many were shocked not to see “Fringe” star John Noble nominated in any acting categories. Guest star Leonard Nimoy retweeted two fans outraged by Noble’s snub, then tweeted, “No Emmy nomination for Fringe. Ridiculous.So much talent. So much hard work. So much imagination.”

On Monday, “Fringe” executive producer J.H. Wyman joined cast members Josh Jackson, Anna Torv, and Lance Reddick at the Television Critics Association Press Tour. Noble’s absence from the event afforded them the opportunity to gush about his work on the series, which will wrap up its run this season.

“I don’t think that there’s a person that works on our show that doesn’t have the utmost respect for John as a person but also as a performer,” Torv says. “For me, watching John and watching Josh as well, both being more experienced than I was when I first joined, taught me — I’m still learning — essentially how television works and how, as an actor, you attack it.”

Jackson calls Noble “the magic man,” joking, “I don’t know how many more superlatives I can throw at John over the course of the years because I have a major, major man crush on him.”

On a more serious note, Jackson adds, “The process of working with him has been this beautiful process of discovery as we’ve tried to work out this father-son relationship, but also he is a wonderful man and performer. What he’s done on this show and what he’s made Walter, what he’s created in this character is one of those things — with no offense to anybody at this panel or even anybody else who’s going to be before you or has been before you today — that’s kind of a once in a lifetime… There are not enough words to express just how wonderful the experience of working with him and just how great I think that guy is.”

Wyman admits that he and his former co-showrunner Jeff Pinkner have been surprised, year after year, as “Fringe” has been left off the Emmy ballot. “We feel probably like a lot of you guys because, you know, I’m sitting in that editing room going, ‘Wow, like what? This is incredible.’ And what he’s doing, to be honest with you, I can’t comprehend it. I’m trying to just believe that the cream will always rise to the top… hopefully, somebody somewhere will realize what this man is doing and can actually give him some kind of celebration for it because it’s astounding to everyone with a set of eyes.”

Jackson reminds us that Noble is celebrated — quite a bit — by the fans of the show, if not by the Academy. “No offense to the Academy members who are here, but since I’m fairly certain I’m not going to get nominated this year, I’m willing to say this,” he teases. “He drowns in love. There is no place that he goes that ‘Fringe’ fans don’t just absolutely shower him with the praise and love that he deserves. So while it’s a bit annoying that he hasn’t been rewarded with an Emmy nomination, that’s not the end-all/be-all of things. At least for the people who care about our show, everybody sees what he’s doing.”

“Fringe” returns to FOX on Friday, Sept. 28 at 9 p.m. for one final season. Which will be eligible for the 2013 Emmy nominations, Academy voters. Nudge, nudge.